Becoming Analise

On your marks, get set, GO!!! 1.     Turn on the Christmas music… Check! 2.    Get a Peppermint Bark Latte… Check! 3.    Watch unending Christmas movies… Check! 4.    Buy special Christmas wrapping paper from kids’ school fundraisers… Check! 5.    Make an advent calendar… Check! 6.    Give some cash to the Salvation Army Santa… Check! 7.    Say, “Merry Christmas,” as you pass a stranger… Check! 8.    Be reminded that you should say, “Happy Holidays,” instead… Check! 9.    Take Christmas pictures for Christmas cards… Check! 10.   Order Christmas cards... Check! 11.    Mail Christmas cards… Check! 12.   Determine your Christmas budget… Check! 13.   Participate faithfully in “Elf on the Shelf” tradition (and be supermom with regard to creativity)… Check! 14.   Plan for teacher gifts… Check! 15.   Buy/make teacher gifts… Check! 16.   Help kids shop for their friends… Check! 17.   Send treats and gifts for your children’s classmates… Check! 18.   Pick

Here are a few stories about Riley Grace from the past two weeks that will set the tone for a lesson on prayer! #1 Riley Grace’s teacher’s grandfather recently passed away, and Riley Grace was really struck by this event. She told me that she remembered when her grandmother passed away last year, and she didn’t want her teacher to be sad like she was. She decided to make her teacher a card and buy her some flowers! Riley Grace was explaining to me that her teacher didn’t need to be sad because her grandfather was in heaven. This spurred on a conversation about how we weren’t sure that he is in heaven because we weren’t aware of her teacher and her teacher’s family’s spiritual beliefs. We talked about how people who don’t believe in Jesus do not spend eternity with Him in heaven. What she took away from that conversation was the need to confirm that her teacher believed in Jesus. The following day, without my knowledge, Riley Grace asked her teacher if she b

This summer, the Lord has really shown me the power of prayer! I have been in a season (for a while) of praying for something very specific in the life of our family – namely Patrick’s calling as a pastor. At the end of the summer, Patrick and I took a walk and he poured his heart out about some things that he had specifically been praying about and wrestling through about God’s calling on His life, God’s missional purpose for our family, and God’s timing. After much talking and listening and praying, God had spoken the same thing to both of us, which was so encouraging!! One night soon after our heart-to-heart about God’s will for our family in this season, I was talking to my mom about everything, and she had been praying about the EXACT SAME THING for Patrick that summer in the EXACT SAME MONTH that he had been wrestling in prayer– God led all three of us to pray for guidance, clarity, and the strength to be obedient about the same exact request, AND He answered i